It is an honour to be here to celebrate the recognition of Nobel Laureate Dr. Art McDonald and his SNOLAB collaborators.

The entire Queen’s community is incredibly proud of Dr. McDonald and his brilliant team.

Sharing in our pride are our SNOLAB partner institutions: Carleton University, Laurentian University, the Universities of Guelph, British Columbia, and Alberta, Chalk River Laboratories, and ten others from the U.S., the U.K., and Portugal.

This team’s Nobel Prize is a result of the dedication of 273 collaborative scientists whose work was generously funded by universities, industry, and government organizations, including the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the National Research Council of Canada, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, and Industry Canada.

Their discovery, which has fundamentally changed our view of the universe, would not have been possible without continued support from the Government of Canada.

Watching Dr. McDonald accept his Nobel Prize in Stockholm was a remarkable moment for Queen’s and Canadian science, and those of us in Stockholm were delighted to share it with our new Minister of Science, the Honourable Kirsty Duncan – and it is now my pleasure to welcome her to the podium.